


Unspoken rules

by Yojimbra



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Divorce, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Lovers, Regret, Romance, kiss, maybe-oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 08:08:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11287164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yojimbra/pseuds/Yojimbra
Summary: Unable to deal with coming home to an empty house every day Sakura throws herself into work and into Naruto.Might continue, was meant to be a one-shot.





	Unspoken rules

An undisturbed silence like that of a still pond defined the halls of the Hokage building at this time of night. It was broken only by her heeled steps that rippled outward and bounced off the walls back to her. Sakura had been finding less and less reason to go home at night. 

Now perhaps more than ever she understood Naruto when he was young, why he always wanted to do something with somebody. It wasn’t out of boredom, no it was such a simple thing. Coming home to have nobody there to greet you day after day after day. It was too much. 

Especially with the knowledge that somebody was choosing not to be there. She had thought that since Sasuke had come back to Konoha that he was ready to be a husband, to greet her with a kiss on the cheek and talk about the little things in life before they retired to their bed for the night. 

She only saw hints of Sasuke the barest evidence that he had slept in his bed somewhat recently. He had barely even touched her since he returned, it felt like he was avoiding her. 

Worse still was now that Sarada was a ninja and was frequently away from the village for nights on end her house was so empty. Even when Sarada was in town she would rather be with her friends than spend time with her own mother. 

Sakura let out a bitter yawn as she walked into Naruto’s office. He was still there scratching his head at his laptop hard at work to making sure the village functioned properly. In some ways, it killed her to see him like this, but this had been his dream for so long. In the end, both their dreams came true, and she didn’t know if either of them were happy with them. Judging by Naruto’s face he wasn’t. “Good evening Naruto.” 

“Ahh! Sakura! How are you?” He never failed to smile at her like she was the only girl in the world. Not even Hinata got that smile from him. Was Naruto the same as her? Did he regret their choice all those years ago too? 

“I’m doing well,” She lied, Naruto’s smile dropped, he could always tell when she was dishonest. She wished that she could blame Kurama’s influence but the simple fact was that Naruto knew her, probably better than she knew herself. “I brought the hospital reports and a proposal to expand the hospital’s budget there are some upgrades we desperately need.” 

Naruto held out a hand towards her to take the paper directly rather than have it place it on his stack of paper. A small gesture that showed how much he valued her. “Are you back to helping out the hospital?” 

“Just for a little bit.” She handed him the papers. It was all that she could do to not go home at night and wallow in loneliness. She understood why her teacher drunk so much now. “It was nice seeing you again.” 

Naruto grabbed her wrist. “Sakura, what’s wrong? Tell me.” 

“Nothing’s wrong.” Another lie, she couldn’t even look Naruto in the eyes right now. It was just another difference between him and Sasuke, Sasuke could pry any secret from her with ease. Yet with Naruto, she would freely give them. She pulled against him, when he refused to let her go she stopped returning once more to that frail little girl that still dwelled inside of her. 

“Sakura, talk to me. I know when something’s bothering you, I know that it will eat at you until you find some way to punch it better,” He joked standing as he did. With her wrist still in his hand, he walked around the desk. “So please tell me what’s wrong.” 

Her will broke when he forced her to look him in the eyes. What she wouldn’t give to see those eyes every night when she came home, to have not just somebody there to greet her or to have somebody to greet but to do those things with him, with Naruto. Her hand found its way to his jacket. “Do you remember after the war while Sasuke was away?” 

“Yea we were both jounin, it still feels like yesterday.” He released her hand but she was bound to him more so than ever before, even if she wanted to escape it would be impossible. His hand moved to her exposed shoulder and he took another step closer. 

Sasuke was never that close to her anymore. 

“Do you ever regret not doing something back then?” She knew had known for years that if she had wanted Naruto she could have had him. But she didn’t know how badly she wanted him back then. Now that want had turned into a need. 

Naruto’s hand dropped from her shoulder, the once warm touch now felt cold. He turned and looked out towards Konoha. “It’s hard to regret any choices that brought us here. But yea I have a few things I wish that I had said.”

“Such as?” She hoped that they involved her, she knew that they did. She just wanted to hear them from him; for him to admit, that he knew as she did, that had one of them acted on the other they would be together. 

 

With a sigh that spoke volumes Naruto grabbed the picture of his children, he had the same deep air of regret that hung around her home. He placed the photo down, away from him. “You remember when you told me that my crush on you was just because of my rivalry with Sasuke?” 

“Kind of, I was a bit out of it at the moment.” She remembered it with crystal clarity. Part of her had begged for him to refute her. It was the part of her that snuck glances at him whenever she could. 

“You had it backwards.” 

Those words rung Sakura’s body mind and spirit like a ceremonial gong on the holiest of days. Had Naruto said those words to her then it would have been the final drop of water to break the damn between them. Just as they did now. “I want to hear you say it.” 

Naruto sighed, he placed an arm on the window and bounced his head against his hand for a moment. Then he turned to her, his frown lasted for but a second before it waned. His eyes pleaded not to take this from him. 

Sakura nodded no, she had been selfish for so long, what did one more selfish desire matter at this point? With her lip caught between her teeth, Sakura entered a battle of wills that neither one of them wanted to fight. Naruto was the first to break. 

“My rivalry with Sasuke.” Naruto took a step forward so that he was but a breath away from her. She wanted him to touch her, had he asked anything of her then she would have given it to him. “Was because of my crush on you.” 

He grabbed her by the shoulders pressing down on her to support his weight. “You were first, not Sasuke, you, from the first day I saw you I thought you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.” 

What was another selfish desire? 

She pulled his head down to hers and smashed their lips together; desperate to pretend for a few precious minutes that they weren’t married, that they didn’t have a family, that they were sixteen again where they danced on the line that separated friends and lovers and had finally taken that leap they should have all those years ago. 

Naruto responded in kind. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her close. Their bodies fit like puzzle pieces. Her feet left the ground and Naruto supporting her as he always did. This was natural. 

Already the kissed had more passion that her entire marriage with Sasuke had. And it was far from over, neither of them willing to give up the lie that this wasn’t wrong. That this was right. It certainly felt right. 

Reality came crashing down upon them as Naruto’s phone began to ring. Somehow they had moved onto the ground, her own dress unzipped to the navel, while Naruto’s jacket was forgotten on the ground. 

 

She wished he had just let it ring, it was past his work hours, had she been his wife she would not be denied. But she wasn’t. They dressed in mutual silence, disbelief filled the air and desire fogged her mind.

“Hello? This is Naruto.” Naruto answered the phone he avoided looking at Sakura as though she was a leper. He nodded and hummed to some unknown person of interest. “Yes alright, that can be arranged.” 

When she reached the door Sakura turned back to steal one last glance at Naruto. One final peek at her ultimate mistake before she returned to her lonely dull life filled with shades of grey. Heaven met earth, green met blue, and in that single glance where their eyes met a thousand words were shared.

This was a mistake.

This shouldn’t have happened.

Why did this happen?

What happens now?

There needs to be more.

There has to be a way. 

We will never speak of this again

We need to talk

I missed you

I still miss you. 

Sakura closed her eyes and left Naruto’s office. She would give anything to go back, to make everything better. Didn’t they both deserve something more than what they had? 

She had been disloyal to an Uchiha, in the old days that meant death. But the old ways mattered little to Sasuke, he wouldn’t even bat an eye if she were to demand a divorce. And she was tired of returning to an empty home to suffer solitude. 

It was one thing to expect coming home alone because you lived alone. It was another knowing that you had a family and they weren’t there. She was a Haruno, she was used to loud homes filled with noise and shouting. She was not an Uchiha. 

Time to stop pretending to be one.


End file.
